Photo: Horseshoe Bend

Here is a photo of Horseshoe Bend up near Page, Arizona.

This week I am sharing postcard photos from Arizona. I hope you enjoy them.

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Photo: Dramatic Sunset with Yellow Flowers

I had to pull off the road to get thissunset photos. The clouds added to the dramatic effect. To add to the scene, there were some wildflowers on the shoulder of the highway.

The instant feedback of digital photography helps to make photos such as this possible. When I first took this photo, the flowers were too dark to be seen in this shot into a dark sky. When I used a fill-in flash to illuminate the flowers, they were washed out because the flash put too much light on them.

So, what technique did I use to cut down on the amount of light? I did not have my DSLR on this trip. I was using a smaller camera, with manual settings, but with limited capabilities and no ability to change the direction or intensity of the flash. I therefore used an instrument that every photographer has. A thumb. I experimented with putting my thumb over part of the flash surface until the digital screen showed that I added enough flash to illuminate the flowers, but not too much over-expose their color.

I hope you have a chance to use this little photo-tip some day, and I hope that the results will be pleasing to you, and others.

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Photo: The Mighty Colorado River

On the approach to the Hoover Dam bypass bridge from the Arizona side, there is a scenic overlook that gives a view of the high desert plains, the Colorado River below, and the rocky mountainous terrain.

The government searched this area to try to find the best site for the construction of Hoover Dam. there were fissures in the rock in some locations, and other locations were too isolated for access or too narrow to construct the spillways.

I am sure that the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau is delighted with the location that was chosen, as it is only about 35 miles (50 km) from Las Vegas.

It is sometimes difficult to decide whether to fly or drive to Vegas. It is about 4 1/2 hours to drive from the Phoenix area to Vegas, and all of the casino hotels have free parking. It is about 3 hours to go to the airport, park, check luggage, go to the gate and wait for the flight, fly, then get your luggage on the other end. For business trips where I don't have luggage, of course it is easy to fly up and back in a day.

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Photo: Gorgeous Purple Wildflower

Here is a closer photo of the flowers that I showed yesterday. The architecture of flowers fascinates me. What construction do you think is the most ingenious and impressive, the nearby Hoover Dam bypass bridge, Hoover Dam, or these flowers?

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Photo: Purple Flowers at the Dam

I showed the desolate terrain yesterday and mentioned a few days ago that there is a trail that leads from a parking area up to the Hoover Dam bypass bridge. Even in these harsh conditions, there is beauty in the desert.

These tiny, delicate flowers were growing seemingly out of the rock alongside the trail leading up to the bridge.

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Photo: Mighty Colorado River Gorge

This is a photo from Hoover Dam looking back at the Mike O'Callahan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, with the Colorado River far below. The structures on the right are massive utility transmission poles that carry the electricity up from the dam to the transmission complex that I showed about a week ago.

It is difficult to imagine how structures such as this can be built. They built temporary towers on each side of the gorge, strung cables between them, and poured the concrete bridge in place. One of the cables failed during high winds in September 2006 and delayed the project by two years.

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Photo: Light From Above

Here is a break from the photos of Hoover Dam and the new bridge. I had to stop on the side of the road on the drive back to Phoenix/Scottsdale to capture the last rays of the sun hitting the tops of the mountains to the east of the highway. The sun is setting behind me as I took this photo.

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Photo: Hoover Dam Bridge Span

Here is a photo of the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge that I mentioned a couple of days ago. Its official name is the Mike O'Callahan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. This is the second tallest bridge in the USA, 840 ft. (260 m.) above the Colorado River.

Because the bridge links Arizona and Nevada, each state got to suggest a name for the bridge in late 2004. O'Callahan was a decorated Korean War veteran who was governor of Nevada from 1971 - 79 and was editor of the Las Vegas Sun newspaper until he passed away in 2004. Pat Tillman was a star football player for Arizona State University and the Arizona Cardinals. He gave up his lucrative professional football career to volunteer, along with his brother, for the Army after 9/11, and he was tragically killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan. This causes one to reflect on how many professional athletes left their careers during World War II.

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Photo: Hoover Dam Spillway

On each side of Hoover Dam is a spillway to be able to release water around the dam so that water will not flow over the dam if Lake Mead becomes full. As you can see in this photo, there is no danger of Lake Mead filling up with water for years to come. The lake is down, way below capacity.

The spillways have been used only twice, in 1941 for testing, and in 1983 due to high water. Both times caused damage to the concrete tunnels below, as the water drops into a 600 foot (180 m.) long before connecting to tunnels that redirect the water back into the river below the dam.

At the top of the spillway are four steel gates that can be opened to let water into the spillway. Each gate is 100 ft. (30 m.) long and 16 ft. (5 m.) high and weighs 5 million pounds (2.3 million kg.). There are so many statistics associated with Hoover Dam that are too large to comprehend.

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Photo: Colorado River and Dam Beauty

I really like this photo of the mountains, the bridge profile connecting the mountainsides, and the Colorado River flowing below.

It is truly monumental. The span is remarkable.

The dam powers generators that provide electricity for Arizona, Nevada and California.

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Photo: Straight Down

Here is a photo looking straight down the canyon walls towards the Colorado River below Hoover Dam.

It is a long way down.

About one million people a year tour the dam and visit the site.

I have taken the elevators all the way to the bottom. Sort of eery to look back up at the dam from the bottom.

You can feel the pressure of the water on the other side of the dam wall.

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Photo: Perspective of Hoover Dam

When you go way down below the Dam, you can get an interesting angle of the Bridge and mountain.

You can start seeing how high up the bridge is and how difficult it must have been to create this structure.

The Engineers really had some challenges on this project.

There was over 3.4 million cubic yards (2.4 million meters) of concrete used to build Hoover Dam.

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Photo: Hoover Dam and Lake Mead

Here you can see the large Hoover Dam and Lake Mead with its current bathtub ring.

Because there has not been as much rain and the lake has been evaporating, there is this ring showing how low the lake is.

The ring looks odd.

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Photo: Colorado River

Here is a photo of the Colorado River flowing from the Dam.

You can see how the River cuts through the mountains.

When you stand at the top of the bridge and look down, it is a long, long ways.

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Photo: Pedestrian Bridge at Hoover Dam

Here is an interesting angle of the pedestrian bridge at Hoover Dam.

Hoover Dam is on the border between Arizona and Nevada.

The Dam was constructed between 1931 and 1936, during the Great Depression. President Roosevelt dedicated Hoover Dam.

Over 100 men lost their lives constructing this monumental dam.

I hope you enjoy this series.

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The Colorado River and Vermillion Cliffs

Look at the glow of the late sun on the Vermillion Cliffs.

It was a gorgeous view and I wish I was heading down the Colorado River.

Surprisingly, I have never rafted the Colorado River, but need to do so. I will have to make it a goal.

I can only imagine what it must look like to be on the river looking up at these gorgeous canyon walls and the condors soaring down.

I will have to figure out a way to keep my camera dry, however.

Bridge at Glen Canyon Dam Over the Colorado River

The bridge is over the Colorado River and is 1560 feet (475.5 meters) long and 700 feet (213 meters) high.

The Glen Canyon Dam Bridge is the fourth highest bridge in the country. The reservoir it built is Lake Powell.

Before the bridge was built, it was a 192 mile (309 kilometers) drive to the other side of the canyon. What a trek!

In the second photo, you can see the area below where they launch rafts at the bottom. Now there is an adventure. Everyone should go river rafting down the Grand Canyon.

Also, look at the wonderful shadows of the steel girders on the red rock of the cliffs above the Colorado River.

Glen Canyon Dam

The Glen Canyon Dam is 710 feet (216 meters) high and 300 feet (91 meters) wide at the base. California, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico receive about 8.2 million acre feet of water per year from the dam.

The dam is part of the Colorado River Storage Project for the Upper Colorado Basin. The dam is about 4.5 miles south of the border between Arizona and Utah. The dam started blocking the flow of the river in 1963. The plant generates enough electricity to supply about 650,000 persons in the area with power.

Construction started in 1956 and the dam was dedicated in 1966.

If you visit, take the tour, it is amazing. There are great views above this dam and there are many photographic opportunities.

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The Colorado River, Cliff, and My Navigator

I have a story for you today. This is the view right in front of Lee's Ferry Lodge where we stayed during our photography tour.

You can see the Vermillion Cliffs and the long canyon to the right that leads a steep cliff and the Colorado River.

There is about a two mile drive off road that leads to the edge of the cliff where our photo group took sunset shots the night before. We could look down at the mighty Colorado River and see the glow of the rocks and the last bit of daylight.

On the drive back, our group went last and it was pitch dark. When driving back to the lodge, my Navigator went over a piece of shale and it cut right through my front and back tires so I had two flat tires instantly and we were in the middle of nowhere. We turned on our hazard lights and luckily had a cell phone to call back to the lodge so someone could come and get us.

If you enlarge the photo, you can see a little glint of metal in the upper left part of the above photo. That is my Lincoln Navigator.

It was quite the experience to get the car towed off the dirt road and get four new tires so I could drive the 5 hours back to my house. Very expensive weekend, but most interesting especially finding someone who know someone who could find a guy to meet me in a parking lot on a Sunday afternoon to put on four tires. Yes it all worked and when I was paying the person he gave me visitor information and thanked me for coming to Page, Arizona. A nice human slice of Americana.

At the Top of Horseshoe Bend

Michael Madsen, one of the photo instructors on the tour, took this photo of me after the sunlight came up.

It was much scarier when it was completely dark and the wind was blowing, although it is still pretty scary to have a 1,000 foot (302 meters) drop straight down in front of you and no guardrail.

You can see the beauty of the Colorado River and the red coloring of the rock in the photo.

I will share photos of the Vermillion Cliffs area during the next few days before we travel to the slot canyons. The slot canyon photos are awesome but it makes sense to build up to them.